Draft 023 3-3

1st picked Tranquil Scholar over Minotaur Oathkeeper. 2nd picked Aerialist Trainer over nothing. 3rd picked Skywalk Instructor over Cannonbearer. Justice was open. Primal less so. But nothing else seemed open either.

Great fliers, mediocre ground units, and limited interaction. I predict 3-4 wins off of Oathkeeper tempo.

G1: Great opener. I started Minotaur Oathkeeper and Tranquil Scholar (Revenge). Drew my 2nd Oathkeeper soon after. My opponent was behind on tempo the entire game as whatever unit I drew instantly became a threat.
G2: Mulliganed in hand with a Primal and Shadow sigil. Drew the Justice sigil about 2 turns later. By then, my opponent had curved out with strangers. I had terrible blockers. Traded whenever possible and still died quickly.
G3: Mulliganed into a solid hand. I was on the receiving end of Minotaur Oathkeeper this time. Fortunately/unfortunately, my opponent was stuck on 3 power for most of the game. My Duelist Blade ate 2 of his units. He ate his own Minotaur Oathkeeper with Ravenous Thornbeast. My army of fliers raced his 5/5. He didn’t have a trick for my double block, which left him with a Skeeter. His Venomfang Dagger complicated things, but he was too low on health that he had to simply trade. My remaining fliers finished him.
G4: Awkward opener, but had a Minotaur Oathkeeper. Even with Oathkeeper, my units only matched his. Yet, he refused to trade so I got in incremental damage. Turned out that he was waiting for a 2nd Shadow Sigil to Extract my Oathkeeper. Our fliers traded. I drew another Oathkeeper, which meant more incremental damage until he found removal to kill it. The ground stalled until I found a 5th power for Duelist Blade, which ate 3 of his units. My Champion of Cunning was simply a 5/5, but that was enough to finish him.
G5: Great opener. I had Minotaur Oathkeeper into Tranquil Scholar (Warcry). Got in decent damage before even trades. Even had a Fourth Tree Elder and a 7/7 Ceremonial Mask. His Eilyn’s Choice killed the elder. He lost 3 units to the weapon, but recovered with Nesting Avisaur on Pteriax Hatchlings, Evelina, and Xenan Obelisk. I had a pretty absurd draw but his was even better.
G6: Solid opener. His Awakening Student caused me all sorts of issues so that I immediately killed it once I hit 5 power for Duelist Blade. His Beastcaller’s Amulet caused me more issues. Once I traded 2 units for it, he played Steward of the Past. It killed me soon after.

Minotaur Oathkeeper was stronger than expected. I can see why people favor 1st picking it.

Gold Paid = 3695
Shiftstone Gained = 1217 (dust) + 400 (rares) + 800 (Champion of Cunning) + 3200 (Vara) = 5617
Base = 0.340 shiftstone/gold
Shiftstone Profit = 4360
Pack Profit = 12.82